Monday, December 31, 2012

Hi Everyone,
Where did the year go? I have been inspired by so many of your stitching pieces. Unfortunately, my dial-up service and Internet Explorer don't let me leave as many comments as I would like. I just wanted to let you know how much all of you have inspired me this past year.

I have been adding some stitches to 2 of my Heaven and Earth projects since mid-December. After we dug out from the storm of my last post, we got another 8-10 inches of snow the next day. So I had a litttle more time to spend stitching.

It's so nice to see my progress bar lengthen. I also added a new one for
the HAED 2013 BB SAL Mystic Garden (Ciro Marchetti) that I'll be
starting soon. I don't have any special stitching plans for 2013 - the fun is in the journey.

Happy New Year! Wishing you all good health, much happiness and lots of fabulous stitching in 2013!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Does anyone want some snow? It started to snow last night and by mid-day this is what we saw. DH figures we have about 10-12 inches of new snow. At least DH managed to get us cleared out for the 2nd time today before the tractor died. The battery is good as all the lights are on... but no engine.

The little birds have been feasting on their seed wreath. And they have been flying from the maple and birch tree to the feeders.

A flock of six turkeys came to visit and eat up everything the birds have dropped under our feeders... they weren't to happy walking through the snow....

Once the food was gone, they headed for the protection of the large cedar trees.

Perfect weather to build a snowman, but I don't think they agree.

Speaking of snowmen, I received a lovely exchange from Lori for our Stitched With Love Christmas Exchange.She made me the beautiful JBW Designs snowman pillow. Such beautiful stitching and finishing.

Lori spoiled me so much. She included some floss, beads, ribbons, chart, candle, tissues, a magnet, a pincushion, and a lovely patriotic Statue of Liberty ornament.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Hello everyone & welcome new followers!
It's been crazy here for the past couple of weeks. I planned on posting, but life got in the way.

One day last week, our living room TV died. DH bought this almost 30 years ago. Since it was a large (53") pull down front projection, that meant a lot of work to take it apart . We still had audio, but none of the 3 bulbs worked. Last time this happened it was a weld on the video switch... Just can't get anyone to travel to repair. So we moved furniture and set up a temporary solution - but now our other TV won't recognize our DVD player / recorder. It's an older TV and the setup menu still lists VCR as one of the choices.

The next day, we were contacted by our contractor who came in to look at our living room bay window as it has been giving us some problems. That meant moving furniture and Christmas decorations again so that he had full access. The seal on one of the 4 panes needs to be replaced, and the manufacturer
will have to come out sometime after the holidays to look at them to
see if they all need to be replaced.

Amidst all this chaos, I celebrated my birthday. I received the nicest Birthday present from my dear college friend "M". She made me this lovely felted Cardinals candle mat.

I haven't been stitching much lately, as my evenings were spent wrapping packages for family members that don't live near us, and re-arranging our living room. I did manage to almost finish this stocking. I just have to add the beads for hanging and hem the inside cuff. I'll try to get a better picture when it is finished.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Hello everyone,
I've been busy this week trying to put some finishes together and get some presents for family and friends wrapped. To keep their gifts a surprise, I don't think I'll post until after Christmas - except for the few that don't have internet access. You will probably be seeing Christmas Ornament finishes in January. LOL!

So instead, I'll share with you my 2 Heaven and Earth updates.
First up is HAED 2012 SAL SK Forbidden Doorway (Dillman). My last update was at 7350 stitches -when I finished Page 1. Here she is at 9244 stitches.

Next up, I had to move my stored WIP bag to get something out for finishing. When I did, my WIP Storykeep Forest Walk (Stokes) fell out so I spent the next couple of nights adding 500 stitches.

This was my first HAED purchase back in December 2009. I abandoned for quite awhile. I thought something was wrong as the picture showed a much greener bottom. I picked it up again after joining the 2011 SAL - I found the colors used blended into a different color as I continued.

This one has quite a few confetti blocks- especially in the area I'm at now (the face). I do love how it is coming out, but the 2 strands on 25ct has the back very thick and at times my needle has a difficult time.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Hello, Everyone,
We've been seeing snow showers today - it looks like the end of fall for us. I guess that means I need to start digging through my finishing basket and start shopping to find the perfect gifts for our friends and family - and get them finally finished! Hopefully I'll be able to get enough done so that there isn't too much holiday stress.

Since I can't share with you my Christmas exchange that is packed up and waiting for the post office to open so it can be mailed, here is my final fall finish for this year.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Hello everyone,
Last month was the Fall into Halloween exchange over at Stitched with Love exchanges. You can see the whole gallery here.

Now that the exchange is closed, I found out that my wonderful package came from Dawn. I must say I was quite worried as one end of the box had been crushed by the time it arrived. With quite a bit of anxiety, I opened the parcel to find this lovely exchange. Dawn had wrapped everything so beautifully, that nothing was damaged.

I requested either fall or Halloween for this exchange.

This Homespun Elegance piece ABC Cat she stitched for me fits both beautifully.

When I started to assemble this, I realized that somehow I managed to stitch the front twice. LOL! Luckily, I realized it in time and stitched the bottom panel. I stuffed it with poly fill and added a few tablespoons of pumpkin spice scented pellets. Then I added a covered button and a few bicone crystal pins.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Hello Everyone,
What a week. We had the wind gusts from Sandy...not much rain. Had some broken tree limbs, a broken clothesline, and possibly some damage to our chimney - but not much else. We didn't even lose power this time. Our birds have had to adjust as we kept our feeders on the clothesline about 20' off the ground (well away from the bears), and for now we are using a post attached to the deck.

We are saddened when we watch the news showing the areas so badly hit. Most of DH's family live on Staten Island, New Jersey, or Connecticut area. We have been patiently waiting to hear from them. Some have called ... just waiting to hear from the rest of them.

I did want to share a beading finish with you. I couldn't decide which owl to do for Beth's exchange, but after choosing the horned owl and seeing how lovely it looked, I knew I needed to make the other 3. I still have to do the snowy owl... Hope to find time for that one soon.

I started stitching my Christmas exchange earlier this week, but I think I have to start it again on a different fabric- I think the milk chocolate fabric is to dark for the colors I'm using. I 'll probably continue later today adding in some snow... maybe that will make the difference.

We've had flurries in the air a few days this week, so we have a few
more outdoor chores to finish. Plastic on the lower windows, planters
need to be put away, and the tractor needs to be converted to blow
snow. And we need to find the cause of the leak at our wood stove / chimney connection.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Hello Everyone,
How about Birds and bears and sea life instead? Last month I took part in another Stitched With Love Exchange. This time the theme was animals. We listed out three favorite animals. I received my package from Lisa V. I opened up the beautifully wrapped parcels to find this Carriage House Designs wall hanging. Such beautiful stitching - I just love the creative finish she chose for me.

These are the extras she included. So thoughtful of her to include something from each of my choices. Thank you Lisa for such a lovely exchange.

I'm off to finish my stitching for my fall exchange. Somehow, my cold last week messed me up. I started to assemble earlier this week, and noticed that I managed to stitch the front piece twice instead of the front and back. LOL!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Hello everyone,
Sorry my replies to your comments have taken so long- I've been recovering from a head cold this past week. I couldn't do much stitching, but I did manage to get a project finished. It will have to wait until another day because when I got out my camera, I found out that the batteries needed to be charged.

So instead, I'll show you a picture of some feathered friends that visited earlier this week. You can only see a few of the turkeys, but we had nine in this flock.

The winner of the JCS September/October Halloween Issue and threads is P.J. I will send out your package when I get your snail mail.

If you didn't win, don't fret, I am going to have another drawing for this Just Cross Stitch September/ October 2012 Annual Halloween Issue. This time I'll include some threads, Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe trim, and your choice of a 13" x 17" fabric (30ct R&R Colonial Pumpkin or 32ct PTP Earthen).
Drawing will be Friday October 5th. All you have to do is leave a comment.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Fall is my favorite season - even though it is the busiest time for us.We've had a few frosts, which means that I get a bit of a break from these pesky allergies. It also means that I can be outdoors without getting numerous insect bites. The burning bushes are turning brilliant red, the black walnut tree is turning golden yellow, and the sugar maples have begun to display some oranges.

Amid the falling leaves, we had a kestrel show up.

I haven't had much time for stitching - I spent some time picking out a fall exchange piece -and spent even more time pouring through my Just Cross Stitch Halloween and Christmas ornament issues.

Another reason I love fall is because early next month is our anniversary. With that in mind, I thought I'd have a giveaway for a few threads and the September /October 2012 issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine. This is the Annual Halloween Issue - not the special edition issue. Just leave a comment. I'll pick a name on October 1st.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Hello everyone,
I was all set to write this post early yesterday afternoon. Started to write and we lost power. Just got it back about an hour ago. Lots of trees broken, power poles snapped, and wires down. Thankfully we had no damage- other than losing some food that was in our freezers. We heard that there were a lot of micro-bursts in the area.
I couldn't stitch in the dark, so I used my mini light and caught up on some reading, as a book I ordered had arrived in Friday's mail..
Last week I was busy finishing off my animal antics Stitched With Love Exchange for my partner. It's going to be awhile before I can share as I don't mail out until the end of next week. I also did some beading, but I'll save those pics for another day.It's been while since I worked on my Heaven and Earth Designs SAL Forbidden Doorway. I got in a few stitches this week to bring her from 5400 to 6100 completed stitches.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Hello everyone,
Recently I took part in the tea party in the garden exchange from Stitched With Love Exchanges. Lainey has let us know that the packages have been received so now we can share. Stop over at the gallery to see all the beautiful packages sent and received.There is also a sign up for the Fall into Halloween exchange here.

I chose some floral named threads to included in her package, and since she loves Rosewood Manor designs, I had to include Flowers in A Crannied Wall. Here is the complete exchange I sent. I'm glad she liked what I chose for her.

When I opened up these pretty parcels, I found this Homespun Elegance design beautifully finished as a wall hanging. Such a lovely job stitching and finishing! I had to laugh when I saw the dragonfly charm as I had stitched the dragonflies on Marcy's gift.

And she enclosed these lovely goodies. What a beautiful exchange this was!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Hello everyone,
I wanted to post this earlier but our dial up internet connection has been bad lately. During that time we couldn't stay online long enough to update our virus software. Everything is running again (at least for today).
I can finally show you the scissor fob that I mentioned in my previous post.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Hello everyone,
I spent the first half of this past week sidelined with a migraine, but. I did manage to get my exchange package mailed. Storms moved in and we lost power. Surprisingly, our power was restored on the same day. Later that evening, our clothesline pulley snapped. We use it to hang our bird feeders to keep them away from the bears. So we had to improvise -we hung our feeders on our deck post each morning and had to bring them in at dusk each evening.
My miyuki delica beads arrived, so I was able to finish my patriotic scissor fob

I liked it so much that I dug out an older Prairie Schooler pattern that I got from the bay of evil awhile ago (Prairie Birds Book #24) to make another scissor fob. I thought that it would be done by today, but storms moved in again yesterday, and we had no power for several hours. I'm stitching the goldfinches 2 over 1 on 25 count khaki. We did manage to fix our clothesline just before yesterday's storms moved in, so our birds were happy with their feeders back in their normal place.